Focus on the Shadows
by village bicycle
Summary: The Director is building an army. A gigantic, horrific mutant army, to take over the world and change life as we know it. And the only one that can stop this is Shadow ... but she can't do it alone. Love, hate, betrayals, fear ... Charries from SYOC. RnR! *UP FOR ADOPTION UNTIL THE 21ST OF JULY!*
1. Prologue

**_HELLO! Get excited, all who submitted! _**

**_This is my SYOC story. Go read the final chapter of SYOC, as it just says a few things about it. I don't know what else to say, other than ... enjoy._**

**_SUMMARY: The Director is building an army. A gigantic, horrific mutant army, to take over the world and change life as we know it. And the only one that can stop this is Shadow ... but she can't do it alone. Love, hate, betrayals, fear ..._**

* * *

><p><strong>August<strong>_** 3, 2000**_

'Good. Very good. All of the experiments have begun?'

'Yes, Director, ma'am,' said Dr Mary Wright. 'Only, there is a little … uh, mishap.'

'Mishap?' The Director looked sternly at Mary. 'What is this … mishap? Fix it at once!'

'I'm sorry, ma'am,' said Mary shakily. Nobody could deny it; the Director was scary. 'I'm sorry, but it just isn't working.'

'_What _isn't working? I need you to tell me, Wright!' demanded the Director, her nostrils flaring. How dare this good-for-nothing, hardly successful scientist get in the way of the Director's great plan – one that was sure to work?

'The memory modification,' said Dr Wright. 'Uh, ma'am,' she added hastily.

'What do you mean?' ground out the Director. God, was she _angry _…

'The avian-human hybrids. Their memories won't erase. Everybody else has worked, excusing three experiments. Two were intentional, of course. Another could be killed easily. She dares to call herself –'

'Quiet!' shouted the Director. 'You are sure that the memory modification process is not working?'

'Perfectly sure, ma'am.'

'Well,' said the Director, calmer now. It would be okay, she reasoned. 'They are young. They shouldn't be too … insolent.'

'Yes, yes, exactly, ma'am!' said Mary, nodding her head vigorously. _Thank God_, she thought. _I thought she was going to kill me. I was sure of it!_

'Fetch Dr Gotnei,' commanded the Director, spinning on her stiletto-ed heel. 'Fetch him at once.'

Mary hurried off.

'Fool,' snarled the Director, to nobody in particular.

A few moments later, Dr Mark Gotnei rushed into the room, Mary behind him. The Director gave a dismissive flick of her manicured hand, and Mary sped off.

'What is this?' said the Director coldly, her glasses glinting in the sunlight as the rich beams hit them through the plastic blinds. The light gave an oddly false sense of goodness. Of course, no goodness lived in the Director's office. Nothing but –

'The experiments are fighting back,' said Mark, interrupting the Director's thoughts. She glared at him. 'There is nothing we can do. We've tried everything. Nothing worked. Perhaps their youth will allow them to forget, and, with time, join our forces. Besides, if they are too … naughty, per say, we can just kill them off.'

'Yes,' said the Director thoughtfully. She had always liked Dr Gotnei; he was reasonable, came from a good father. Of course, his mother was a disgrace, but he knew that, and so did his father. It was a good thing that Alicia Stephenson was killed. And anyway, she was a test subject for later experiments. 'Yes, that is true. Continue with the hybrids. They should be successes in future. Keep a close eye on them, though. Don't let them escape notice of the guards at any point.'

Mark nodded and exited. The Director sat down in her chair and childishly spun in circles, distracting herself of her troubles for just those few seconds. She let her head fall back, looking up lazily at the ceiling.

She knew her master plan would work. Her growing army of mutants – _experiments _– would take over the world for her. When she was done with them, when the world was hers, she'd kill off the bad ones and keep the good as guards. It would all work perfectly. And the world would see exactly as she did. They would know she was right. _Right_. She was _right _all along!

Her plan would go through. It could take decades. But her army of non-human soldiers would take over the world. And all those that stood in the way would die.

_**December 17, 2009**_

'Another has escaped, ma'am.'

The Director glared at the scientist.

'Catch them, you _idiot_! Send Zero! She's our best agent, by far –'

'Zero has already been sent!' interrupted the scientist. He gulped at the Director's withering glare.

'Send Storm. Send Cress. Send every single freaking one of them you can! Send the whole army! But I can't lose another one of those stupid hybrids! Catch them! _Catch them_!' she screamed, her hands curled into fists and her whole body rigid. The scientist – Dr Horace Menel, she thought his name was – took a fearful step backwards.

'_GO!'_ she shouted. The shrill loudness of the sound made the glass windows shake. '_GO, YOU BLITHERING IDIOT, BEFORE I HAVE YOUR HEAD SEVERED!'_

Dr Menel fled from the room, his lower lip trembling and tears welling in his small, bulging eyes. _Wimp_.

Another one! The Director couldn't stand for it … that was twenty-nine, now. _Twenty-nine_ experiments had escaped, the majority of which were human-avian experiments. _Twenty-freaking-nine . _The Director was losing it. If another escaped, she'd probably kill a scientist just for a bit of fresh meat.

Dr Menel rushed into her office once more. The Director rolled her eyes. The wimp was back. 'This one calls herself Abigail Grace R-Reed, ma'am,' stuttered the scientist. 'Sh-sh-she dares g-give herself a-a-a name? Wh-what nerve that f-f-f-f-freak has, oh, yes …'

'I don't _care_ what the name of the bloody experiment is, you _RETARD! _Get the hell out of my office and start finding the stupid experiment!' Again, he ran from the room.

The Director slumped against a nearby wall and ran one of her slim hands through her messy hair – she had done that so many times now, it was barely a shadow of its former elegance.

_Twenty-nine. Twenty-nine _experiments. Gone. If she lost one more, then the plan would really sky-rocket.

Because while she was out to take over the Earth, she would also find some time to personally murder the _twenty-nine_ escaped experiments. And she would _enjoy_ it.

_**January 10, 2010**_

The Director's eyes widened imperceptibly. The alarm bells kept ringing.

_No,_ she thought, horrified. It had been almost a month – with their new high-level security, she was hoping that no more would escape. It was almost impossible. And yet, the high-pitched alarms rang through the corridors, their sound piercing.

A scientist hurried into the room. The wimpy one. _Dr – _he actually called himself a doctor! – _Horace Menel. _His whole body was trembling with fear, but he said it.

'Another experiment has escaped, ma'am. V74Y885N. Or, as she prefers to call herself, _Vyn_. A name! A-a-a … name …' His voice trailed off as the Director took three slow, menacing steps towards him, like a tiger hunting her prey. Another. And another. She was so close now.

She was a foot away. Then she just stood there, stock still in front of the visibly shaking scientist, who was of the lowest rank in the company now – due to her intense disliking towards him, he had been demoted – several times.

A few minutes later, she lashed out, dagger in hand, and slit his neck. _Wimp._

He fell to the ground, dead. The Director gave a satisfied smile and cleaned the bloody blade on Menel"s white coat.

These stupid, stupid hybrids. Did they really believe they could escape her and her freak army?

Idiots. They didn't stand a chance.

* * *

><p><em><strong>And that is the prologue! So, congrats to:<strong>_

_**RANDOMRANTING - creator of Dr Mary Wright**_

_**DarkeningRoses - creator of Dr Mark Gotnei**_

_**Sonic SCREAM - creator of Dr Horace Menel**_

_**BlueSkyKite - creator of Zero**_

_**Serpent's Ballet - creator of Cress**_

_**InvaderVyn - creator of Vyn**_

_**maximumridefan111 - creator of Abby**_

_**Remember, guys, these aren't all the characters in the story! More to come! And don't worry, there are still more whitecoats coming in. :)**_

_**Ta-ta for now!**_

_**- J**_


	2. This Is Our Story

_**Hello! Forgot my disclaimer for the prologue, so here it is …**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Maximum Ride, nor do I own the characters.**_

_**100 points to the Hogwarts house of your choice if you can name what movie the first spoken line is from. :)  
><strong>_

_**CHAPTER ONE: **__**This Is Our Story**_

_Punch, kick, roundhouse, duck, jump, dart, chop, punch, scissor kick ..._

'Hah!' I shouted. 'Pinned ya again!'

Focus groaned. 'Gerroffme ... What've you been eating, Shadow, rocks?'

'Yes,' I said, sticking my nose up into the air and playfully batting him around the head. 'Big ones, too. It helps in situations like this.'

'Q, help me out here!' he called in his Irish accent, laughing. 'I have an elephant on me!'

Quintessa giggled and came over to us, twirling a strand of curly, almost blood-red hair around her small, pale finger. 'Nope!'

'Wha — but — you evil little child,' he growled playfully. 'Shadow, _get off!'_

'Nuh-uh! Not until you congratulate me on my win and accept your ... not-so-elegant defeat, little boy,' I grinned.

'Unh ... You're horrible, Shadow Lizzy Glade, you really are,' he sighed, running a hand over his large, hazel eyes. I snickered.

'Admit it. I won, you lost.'

'No —'

'Do it!' Quintessa said, smiling and bouncing on the balls of her feet. 'Then we can all go to the town and get some fizz buttons!'

'Yeah, Shadow,' said Focus, 'get off so we can get some fizz buttons!'

_'Noo!' _ said Quinn as if it was obvious. 'No, no, Focus, admit you lost! She pinned you and so you have to admit it —'

'Hah!' I exclaim. 'Go Q!'

'Fine, fine ... you won, I lost,' he grumbled. 'Happy?'

'Yes, actually, I am,' hopping off him and getting to my feet, brushing off my dark jeans. 'Now, what was this about fizz buttons, Q?'

'Fizz buttons! In that town over there!' She pointed, but all that we could see were more trees surrounding the sunlit clearing where we had set up camp.

'Uh, Quinn? What town?' asked Focus, running a hand through his shaggy brown hair.

There was a sudden blast of wind, making all of my hair go straight into my face. I coughed and spluttered as black and blue feathers went into my mouth, and tried to see anything at all through the dark strands of hair covering my eyes.

Quintessa shrieked. 'I can't see!' she shouted, close by. 'I have too much hair!'

Focus snorted. 'You two look ridiculous. There's times where I love having short hair — like now, for instance.'

'Shut up,' I said through my hair. 'When does this wind_ end _... oh, it's gone!' I shoved all my black hair off my face and looked grumpily over at Focus. 'You could've helped ...'

'Nope! I love seeing you suffer,' he smirked. 'Hey, Q, you okay there?'

Her messy red hair was still everywhere, and neither of us could see her tortoiseshell eyes. 'Shadow,' she called, 'can I use one of your hair ties?'

I laughed. 'Yeah, sure,' I said, coming over to her and slipping one off of my wrist; she took it and shook her hair out. 'Hey, sweetie, need help with that?' I asked, kneeling to reach her height.

'Nah, I'm fine,' she said, scraping all of her long, wild hair back into a ponytail. I yawned, suddenly hungry. And slightly sleepy.

'Fizz buttons, anyone?'

'Yeah!' they chorused excitedly.

'Come on, Quinn, lead the way,' I said, nodding at her.

Her face burst into a broad smile and, together, we spread our wings, ran a hundred feet and launched ourselves into the never ending blue expanse of sky.

And at that moment, I knew I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

_We're the flock. And this is our story._

_**It's short, it's sweet, but it gives you a small overview of their characters and their relationship as a family.**_

_**So, those three are my first main characters for the flock. Good work to:**_

_**DarkeningRoses**_ _**– the creator of Quintessa Christina Grace Phornley**_

_**jellybeanxo**__** – the creator of Focus**_

_**and **__**It's Fnicking Awesomeness**__**, my beta – creator of Shadow Lizzy Glade**_

_**Anyway, hope you enjoyed! More characters will be brought in soon, and **__**some**__** of the characters that are just MENTIONED will not be mains. Keep that in mind. Also, once the main flock is completed, there will be more characters ... hehe. Wait and see. So if you don't get in to the main flock, there is still a chance you could have a fairly big lead. Don't give up on me just yet! And there may be more opportunities to submit in future, you never know ...**_

_**And with that note ... goodbye!**_

_**RnR?**_

_**- J**_

- J


	3. Glinting Eyes

_**Hey everyone! I would just like to repeat that submitting is CLOSED – I have still gotten a couple since when I posted on that story saying I WOULD NOT ACCEPT ANY MORE.**_

_**But anyway **__** Thank you for the reviews! Every single one made me smile :')**_

_**Oh, and just so we're all clear, it is NOT going to remain a flock of three. That would be weird. It will end up with seven. And there will be more leads to come, they just won't be in the main flock.**_

_**Now that that's all clear … ENJOY! **_

* * *

><p>'Shadow! Give me thaaat!' whined Quintessa, pouting cutely.<p>

'Never!' I cackled, running away from her.

'No!' she shrieked. 'Focus, help me! I want my fizz button! Wait — Focus ...?'

'Yoink!' said a voice from behind me, snatching Quinn's fizz button from my fingers. I yelped and turned, only to be face-to — chest.

'God, Focus, do you have to be so _tall?'_ I complained, looking hungrily at the fizz button. 'It's the last one!'

'Exactly,' he said. 'It's the last one, and therefore, it is mine.'

'No —!' I began, but he had already thrown the final green fizz button into the air and caught it expertly in his mouth. 'You suck,' I grumbled.

Quintessa ran over and tackled Focus, her small, seven-year-old body launching at him. 'You — ate — my — last — fizz — button!' she screamed, pummelling him with her tiny fists.

Half laughing, half desperate, Focus tried to get her off him. 'It was just a fizz button, Q! Don't sweat it —'

'DON'T SWEAT IT? I —'

'Shh,' I whisper softly. It was hardly even a sound at all. It floated along on the breeze that made the thick canopy above ripple, causing dappled flecks of sunlight to appear on the grassy ground. But despite that sound being so minor, both Quinn and Focus fell silent.

'What is it?' said Focus quietly, suddenly serious.

'I swear I ...' I stepped forward, peering through branches into the shadowy trees. There was nobody there. 'But I could've sworn ...' I whispered.

'Shadow?' Quintessa said, a crease appearing between her brows.

'Don't worry, guys,' I said after a moment, turning back around and planting a false smile on my face. Quinn looked at me for a second longer before going back to Focus.

'I want my fizz button,' she demanded.

He didn't so much as glance at her for a minute, his eyes suspiciously focused (haha, get it?) on mine, but when they didn't reveal a thing, he said to Q, 'You can always reach down and get it ... aaaah!' He opened his mouth wide and leaned down to her level.

'Ew! No!' she squealed. 'No, go get me a packet of fizz buttons from that town!'

'Aw, do I _have_to? Shadow?' He switched his attention back to me, but I was elsewhere. I could've sworn I saw a pair of menacing yellow eyes, glinting from behind a tall tree ... but they were gone as quickly as they appeared. My dark feathers ruffled in unease.

_'Shadow!'_

I was broken out of my reverie by Focus's call; it seemed he had said my name several times already.

'What?' I said, glancing up at him. 'If you're asking me for fizz buttons, it's not gonna happen, buddy.'

'Aw! Please? Please, please, _please?' _Quinn pleaded, mottled green eyes wide in desperation.

I snorted, hitting her playfully in the face with my long, black tail. 'They're just fizz buttons, Q —'

However, that was the wrong thing to say.

'JUST FIZZ BUTTONS? Don't you dare say anything of the sort! They should be worshipped in special temples! And besides, they're only a dollar sixty —'

'No, Quintessa,' I said, cutting of her rant. 'We're not going back into the town. It's getting dark.' I glanced up at the sky. 'The stars are coming out, see?'

Mouth hanging open, Q gazed up. 'They're so pretty ... Wow, Shadow, look at the clouds! Over there! They're pink, and orange and purple!'

Laughing lightly, Focus picked her up and placed her on his shoulders. 'Better view?'

'Yeah,' nodded Quintessa. 'Less trees ... wow ... Shadow, look! Look!'

A small smile graced my lips, and I did as she said. They truly were beautiful, the sun lighting them radiant, warm colours. Just seeing them, I felt so lighthearted ... the innocence glowing in Quinn's eyes made it easy to forget our troubles.

But we could never forget.

My smile faded. I looked down at the tight black band fastened around my left wrist, my numbers and letters grafted upon it. _'Ex. 56, Wave 4, CA.'_

Memories flooded back. Sweat dripping down my face as I ran through an endless maze, zapped by agonizing electicity whenever I slowed; chemicals injected into my body via sharp needles; Lizzy yelling my name as the Erasers launched themselves at her —

I squeezed my eyes shut and gulped, trying to hold back tears.

'Hey, Shadow,' said Focus softly, breaking me out of my not-so-cheery thoughts. 'I get first and third watches, 'kay?'

'Yeah, that's fine,' I muttered. With a small grimace, I looked over at Quintessa, and couldn't help the smile reforming. Her head was tilted back and she sat cross-legged on the ground, features set in an expression of wonder. 'Quinn, it'll be getting dark soon,' I called. 'How about you get your things ready for sleep, huh, sweetie?'

'Yeah,' she breathed, not looking at me; she was utterly transfixed by the sky. 'I will when the sun goes down ...'

'Okay, then, Q,' I said, grinning at her. 'Make sure you do.'

Focus was still looking at me, eyes narrowed. 'Are you sure you're okay?'

'What? Yeah, I'm fine,' I reassured him, rolling my eyes but not meeting his penetrating stare.

'Then what was up with your behaviour before? What did you see?'

'It wasn't anything,' I said, rolling my eyes and smiling fakely, 'just my eyes playing tricks on me.'

'What did you see, anyway?' he demanded, arms crossed.

I huffed out a breath. 'Fine. I saw eyes, okay? But they're gone now. I'm sure I was just hallucinating. Now go make yourself useful, alright?'

'Fine,' he said through gritted teeth, 'but you suck at lying.' He then walked off to find some things to make a fire.

I sighed and looked back into the darkness of the trees before turning and walking back over to Focus, my long tail whipping behind me ... but I could've sworn that I saw a pair of cold, yellow eyes glaring back at me in the shadows.

* * *

><p>'Up and at 'em!' I called, shaking Quintessa and Focus awake. 'Come on, come on, come on! Let's move!'<p>

'Ugh, no ... I like it here,' complained Quinn, covering her eyes with a pale hand, 'do we really have to go?'

'You know we can't stay too long, Q. They're after us, remember?' I said, looking up at her.

'C'mon, Shadow,' Focus said, sitting up and trying to tame his hair, messy from sleep. 'Just ease up a little and let us stay longer. A few days, that's all.'

I scowled at him. 'We can't afford to wait a few days! They're after us _now!'_

'They don't know we're here!' he shot back, getting to his feet. 'We're safe here, can't you see?'

'We're never safe, Focus,' I growled, 'and you're deluding yourself if you say we are.' I looked over at Quintessa, who now was wide awake, eyes upset and a little bit scared, too.

'You hungry?' I asked, ignoring Focus's angry glare. She gave a tiny nod. 'Alright, I'm just going to head out and grab something to eat. Focus, you're in charge. Unless it's too safe for you to bother to keep your eyes open,' I sneered. Before he could retort anything back, I had taken off, without a run-up.

I closed my eyes as I flew, enjoying the cool wind brushing against my face, pushing my black, blue streaked hair off of my face. Just for that moment, my sense of foreboding faded into the distance and I allowed peaceful tranquility to take over.

Soon enough, the town came into view. It was a small place, cosy, with tin-roofed houses on the sides of dirt roads and tiny shops that at least provided for the members of the town. _Dale,_ it was called, near the ocean —

A high, piercing scream broke the calm silence. I came to a halt, my eyes widening.

I knew that voice.

Without hesitation, I turned and sped back to the forest.

* * *

><p><em><strong>DUN DUN DUNNN! Who screamed? Well, I think it's pretty obvious, unless Focus decided to. Yeah ...<strong>_

_**And no, I am NOT going to say what happened. Just wait for the update!**_

_**Again, it was fairly short, but wasn't as sweet as the last one **_

_**Three or four new characters will be arriving next chapter. I, uh, can't remember the exact amount … woops.**_

_**Also, shout out to Serpent's Ballet, for getting the movie! Unfortunately, I did not get a house name. /sighs/**_

_**aha, and to It's Fnicking Awesomeness, it was Lion King 1! Not 2! Hahaha, good try! You can have twenty-five points, and since you're my beta you can double that ;) and you actually listed the house! :O Fifty to Gryffindor, woo! :)**_

_**Round of applause for our winners! ;D  
><strong>_

_**Next chappie should be up fairly soon, but school restarts tomorrow, so it may be a bit delayed. You guys understand, right? Hehe **_

_**Now. Goodbye. ;)**_

**_RnR?_**

_**- J**_


	4. Familiar Faces

_**I know, I know. It has been … how long now? Over two months, definitely.**_

_**I'd like to begin with an apology. I've left you all waiting, and I would not be surprised if many of you gave up on me long ago.**_

_**But I have received PMs and reviews pressuring me to update. Nobody knows what goes on in my life. Nobody knows what causes the giant breaks between every chapter. Please DO NOT do anything like that again, or I will seriously stop writing this story.**_

_**Now, on a hopefully much more cheerful note, let's begin, yes?**_

_**CHAPTER THREE: Familiar Faces**_

I crash-landed in a bunch of closely-knit trees near the clearing. Shallow scratches from the thin branches covered my arms, legs, and face. I quietly came closer to see what was happening.

'Let go of me!' a young girl shrieked — Quinn.

'Where is she?' snarled a familiar voice. I frowned. I couldn't place the name ...

'Why would we tell you?' spat Focus. I came a little closer, peering out from behind a thick tree. I bit my lip worriedly. Quinn and Focus were being held captive by grinning Erasers – the vicious, human-lupine creations from the School, used as weapons. They were currently in their human forms. Across from them stood a tall female figure, clad in camo pants, combat boots and a clinging black shirt, a silver choker chain fastened around her neck. I growled mentally as she turned, her front facing my general direction; short copper hair, yellow eyes, three distinct scars running across her left cheek and down to her collarbone: _Zero_.

Behind her, ahead of more malicious Erasers, stood a teenage boy I didn't recognize. He was slim yet short, with fair skin, ash-blonde hair and bangs swept carelessly to the right. His arms were crossed, and every now and again he looked restlessly to the sky.

With an angry snarl, Zero raised her arm and sent a hard slap at Focus's cheek; his head whipped to the side, but he didn't show the pain I knew he would be feeling. He said nothing.

'Tell me where she is,' she hissed. 'Now, if you care about your life.'

'Never,' Focus said quietly, eyes downcast.

With a dramatic, overly loud huff, I stepped out into the overgrown clearing. 'Who, me?'

Zero spun around and looked at me emotionlessly. 'Get her,' she said.

A surge of Erasers rushed towards me, morphing into their wolf forms as they ran. A hairy fist shot towards my face; I blocked it with my arm and ducked as another came my way.

Minutes passed as I fought my way through the Erasers, but they seemed to be never ending. Sweat dripped down my face and my cheeks flushed red; I knew, without a doubt, that no matter how hard I fought, they would win sooner or later.

I sent a powerful, roundhouse kick straight at a bloodthirsty Eraser, but he caught my foot and sent me crashing to the ground. The ones still standing seized the opportunity to grab me, pinning my arms behind my back; Zero and the boy just watched on, ignoring Quintessa and Focus as they struggled helplessly behind them.

'Good,' she said, taking a few slow steps towards me. Then she stopped, pressing a finger to the choker around her neck. 'We have them,' she muttered into it, before releasing it and looking up at me.

'Zero,' I spat. An Eraser behind me scratched his clawed fingers up my arm; in return, I kicked a foot backwards into his … _sensitive _area. He hissed in pain, digging the claws into my flesh; they drew blood.

She smirked, running a slender hand through her coppery-black hair. 'Shadow. Long time no see. Looking forward to going ... home?' She laughed coldly. 'Thought you'd like to know — they've perfected the memory test. Soon enough, you won't remember a thing of the sixteen years of your life and you'll be part of the army. Sound fun?'

'Not gonna happen,' I hissed, glaring at her furiously through eyes narrowed in rage.

Zero nodded her head at the boy who stood stoically behind her. With a horrid grin, he turned and sent a fist into Focus's stomach. Focus doubled over, but didn't make a sound, soon standing straight.

'Don't say things you'll regret,' Zero warned me, the smirk still upon her pale lips, 'else your little _family _–' she spat the word,'will be the ones paying the price.'

Trembling with anger, I said nothing.

Then there was a loud crash, the sound making chirping birds fly, alarmed, from the forest.

'Oh, God,' groaned Zero, her lip curling in disgust. 'Bring him here, Cress.'

The boy — Cress — sighed heavily and walked into the trees; a moment later he returned, kicking a white dog crate ahead of him. From inside of it sat a wincing young boy, about nine, with light, fluffy brown hair, cut short. Half of his face was in shadow, and he bent over his body; of the little I could see of him, I could tell that many dark, painful bruises, marring his lightly tanned skin.

Zero was about to say something, but paused, raising her hand back up to the chain around her neck. Seconds later, she said to Cress, 'Storm has been sent. He's on his way, and knows the location of the trucks.'

Cress looked at her, frowning. 'And Dr Green couldn't've just told you straight out?'

Zero rolled her glimmering yellow eyes. 'Apparently not, in case I'm a _traitor_,' she sneered. 'They need _Storm_to double-check.' Her head then shot backwards as a chocolate-colored Eraser shouted in pain. I grinned in satisfaction as he let go of Quinn's arm — she sent another kick to his stomach, and one more under his chin, snapping his head back. The Eraser groaned and remained on the floor.

Three Erasers ran at her, but she fought them off valiantly. I smiled in pride.

'Go, Q!' yelled Focus, pulling against the binding arms that held him prisoner. 'Get out of here!'

Quintessa looked at him unsurely, but didn't miss the kick that flew at her; she jumped skillfully above it, and looked around her. All three Erasers were down, more sprinting at her — but instead of using the moment to fly away, she ran towards the cage holding the young boy, fumbling with the latch. It came undone just as a beefy Eraser threw himself upon her, sinking his pointed teeth into her shoulder.

Quinn screamed in pain, but the Eraser flew off her, and instead the boy stood in its place, very skinny but thickly muscled, despite his young age. Freckles dotted his cheekbones and nose; and his big yellow eyes were framed by thick black lashes.

He reached out a hand and helped Quintessa to her feet, blood pouring from the wound in her shoulder. If it was even possible, her pale skin seemed to grow ever paler, almost fully white, with pain.

More and more Erasers launched themselves at the small children, snarling viciously.

'Stop!' called Zero, her eyes wide. The Erasers all halted, looking at her in confusion. Quintessa and the boy used the opportunity to jump into the air and fly up, but not before Quinn called, 'We'll come back for you! Promise! They won't keep you!' I didn't miss the way blood dripped from her shoulder as she flew away, nor how she wiped her eyes, shuddering. Raptor vision doesn't miss much.

Zero tapped her foot impatiently, paying no mind to the escaped prisoners nor the Erasers that glared at her in confusion and anger.

'You let the little ones go!' yelled one, the fur on his back spiking up.

She sent him an icy-cold glare. 'I don't victimize the innocent,' she hissed, before throwing a punch his way. The Eraser fell to the ground, wheezing.

The look she held for him held nothing but contempt and disgust. Zero then rolled her eyes, top lip curling. 'Idiot, isn't he boys?' she said. The Erasers all echoed 'yeah's and gave unsure chuckles, but their behavior was wary.

One of the Erasers keeping me prisoner leant over to whisper to the other; his grip on my arm slackened just a tiny bit. The opportunity was open; I grabbed it before there was any chance of escape and threw a punch into his stomach, then sent a knee at his groin. He doubled over, groaning.

They all came at me at once. My canine teeth sharpened, tail flicking from side to side behind me. Everything was a blur of snarls, fangs and furious, blood-shot eyes. Each had morphed, and their claws scratched across my skin, tearing crimson streaks.

Overcome with anger and bloodlust, I lost control of my actions as I fought. Punch, kick ... none of it mattered. As long as I got to Quintessa and defeated the horrible beasts that were so close to taking my small family back to that death trap — the School.

Soon enough, Focus had joined the fight. The Erasers that were allocated to guard him couldn't resist the urge to fight, and sprinted towards the mass of snarling wolf-men and myself, leaving Focus to roam free.

Time passed. I grew weaker with each blow delivered, but I kept going. One by one, Erasers ended up on the floor, in too much pain to move or unconscious. But Focus and I kept going — we couldn't afford to stop.

Zero and Cress watched impassively until we had beaten each Eraser — I almost collapsed, and had to be supported by Focus to keep me up. Blood poured from a deep gash across my left eye and I could've sworn my right arm was broken. You can trust me when I say there was many other injuries in between.

Focus's were a bit lighter. He had joined the fight after I had, and he wasn't completely bloodsoaked. No matter how hard he tried, however, I could see the weakness glimmering in his hazel eyes, that drooped with exhaustion. Sweat shone on his brow.

Zero clapped slowly, taking a few drawn-out steps closer. 'Shadow, Shadow, Shadow,' she sneered. 'You just keep getting better, don't you?'

I was silent. My leg buckled underneath me; I tried to cover it up, but Zero caught it.

'Ah,' she hissed. 'Feeling a bit ... down, eh? In the dumps?' She and Cress laughed cruelly. 'Oh,' she added, in a conversationalist's casual tone, 'this here is Watercress. My new favourite, I guess you could say — oh!'

From the sky, zooming through the trees came a blur of dark colors. It came _this_close to crashing, but halted skillfully just in time and landed gracefully on its feet.

I looked it over. _It_was a boy who looked not a day older than ten. He had dark blue eyes and black cat ears peeking out from shiny black hair, with a tail, sharpened claws where his fingernails should've been, pads on his hands and sharpened front teeth. His wings, spread to their full length from his decent, were black at the top, fading to dark brown as they went down.

His gazed turned to us. 'The experiments?' he said, his voice soft. 'I thought there was another. Was I mistaken? And what, may I ask, happened to the Erasers?' His eyes scanned over them disdainfully. In the back of my mind, I wondered how a boy so young could be like ... _this.  
><em>  
>Zero raised a copper eyebrow that perfectly matched the color of her hair. 'There was. They fought their way out —'<p>

'They?'

'The young girl one and ... Kovu, was it?'

A glint of recognition appeared in the boy's navy eyes, and I saw sadness flicker, but it was gone as quickly as it came. 'And then?'

'And then those two fought the idiots as well and won. Now they could escape at any moment ... but they don't,' Zero added thoughtfully. 'Why is that?'

Neither of us replied in words; Focus spat blood at her feet.

The boy ignored Focus's disrespectful gesture and looked to his female elder. 'The trucks and the professors are outside the forest. They are expecting us. Soon. Not one of them shall be pleased.'

'They'll have to deal with it, then,' growled Cress. 'Storm, help me take these two back.'

They came towards us, but we lashed out at them with fists and feet. Zero threw herself into the fight, dagger drawn — I didn't even realize who I was fighting until the sharp tool sunk deep into my stomach.

The fighting stopped, and the world seemed to become slow-motion. The wound throbbed and gushed with blood, coursing pain through my whole body.

Focus rushed towards me, lifting me into his arms and spreading his darkly colored wings, stretching them to their full fifteen-foot wingspan.

Zero took a few steps back and stared between the crimson-stained dagger and my stomach. Her expression appeared almost ... shocked? Regretful?

I didn't have time to dwell on it. Focus launched into the air and we sped away; my head lolled back as I sunk into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p><em><strong>BOOM BABY! Good work to ... drumroll ...<strong>_

_**Again,**_

_**Serpent's Ballet**__**, creator of Cress, who only truly appeared in this chapter.**_

_**Once more to**_

_**BlueSkyKite**__** for Zero, and **__**Flowergirl95**__**, for the creation of Storm.**_

_**Lastly to**_

_**Beefy Bibbles**__**, Kovu's version of God! I'm sorry, I gave him wings — he had to escape somehow, and Quinn couldn't carry him! Haha, he is now 2% sparrow — I hope you don't mind. The lion genes remain.**_

_**Now, round of applause to these guys! Yay!**_

_**- J**_

_**Actually, a lot of you know me as J, while others know me as Aya. Call me what you like, but I'm still going to sign off as J, because if I sign as A I'll feel like the anonymous stalker from Pretty Little Liars. Just sayin'.**_


	5. Waking

_**Disclaimer (I think this is my first … woops): I do not own Maximum Ride. If I did, everything would have been **_**completely **_**different after the third book. Completely. I am not James Patterson, and these characters were not made by me. I do not own them, either. But this is FANfiction, JP, and if you're writing as a fan of your own story … well, that speaks for itself. This is gonna be my only disclaimer. So deal.**_

_**CHAPTER FOUR: Waking**_

I awoke beside a crackling fire, withowls hooting from nearby trees and the stars glistening above me. Faint conversation was taking place to my right**.**I groaned and swiped a hand over my eyes, taken overby a sudden headache and piercing pain in my stomach.

Instantly, three faces appeared above me, all adorned with worried expressions.

'Shadow!' exclaimed Quintessa. 'You're okay! I was so scared... you've been unconscious for two days! And a half, I guess.' I tried to hold back a sneeze as her red curls tickled my nose.

Focus's eyes held nothing but relief, but he refrained from saying anything. He just poked me.

Besidehim sat the boy who Quintessa had rescued, innocent brown eyes looking straight into mine. His short, fluffy brown hair fell slightly over his forehead, and I couldn't help thinking of how cute he was.

'Unh...' I say, shutting my eyes and clenching my fists. 'My head... and everything, actually**.**...'

'Yeah, you were pretty beat up,' said Focus, grimacing. 'We fixed the stab wound as well as we could, but it was super deep. Move too much and it'll start bleeding again. We thought it'd never stop.'

Quinn's eyes widened dramatically. 'It was the scariest thing ever! Focus found us in the air - we hadn't flown very far, because we didn't want to lose you two- and then he showed up and you were bleeding _everywhere_ and we both thought you were _dead_!'

The boy nodded in vigorous agreement. 'We flew for about eleven hours, with short breaks, before we landed here. They should've gone back to the School by now.' He grinned. 'By the way, I'm Kovu! I'm nine years old, and I'm turning ten in January!'

I couldn't help smiling back. 'Hey there, Kovu. What's your story?'

'Well,' he began, 'I was taken from my parents when I was one with my sister, Victoria. I was originally called Caden, but she renamed both of us after characters from the Lion King II, our favorite movie. So I became Kovu and she became Kiara. Anyway, they separated us and I haven't seen her since. She's... she's...' He stopped all of a sudden, swallowing hard. He didn't go on. None of us pressed him.

'So, you only just escaped?' I asked softly.

'Yeah,' he replied, thankful for the change of topic. 'I was in the School in Mexico, but they decided to transfer me. That's when Zero got told that she had to find you guys, so they went there and I was taken with them. This is the first time I've actually been free since before they took me.'

'Aw,' I breathed. He was so cute! However, we could all tell that behind his warm brown eyes sat somuch pain from times past. More pain than many people would ever experience in their lives, and he was only nine.

I tried to sit properly**.**Focus helped me, placing a supportive hand on my back. I leaned against him, too weak to do much independently. My stomach rumbled loudly.

Quinn laughed. 'Shadow!' she exclaimed mock-scoldingme**.**

'Are you hungry?' asked Focus with a smirk. At my fervent nod, his smirk developed into an all-out grin. 'Never would've guessed. There's food over there. Hey, Kove, could you grab the leftover hotdogs? They're cold, but they should be okay.'

Kovu nodded obediently and got to his feet, golden tail swinging behind him. I rolled my eyes to myself– two tailed kids now. _Brilliant._

He trotted over to a bag on the other side of the fire, and came back in seconds with three hotdogs in his hands. At the mere sight of them my tummy gurgled again**.**'Oh, gimme, gimme, gimme!' I squealed childishly. Kovu laughed and handed them over.

I scarfed the first two down, no problem. With the third, however, with my strength returning just that much more, I gasped in pain as agony hit my stomach.

'Crap,' hissed Focus. 'Lie back down.'

I followed his instruction uncharacteristically, closing my eyes once more. He lifted my shirt (careful not to go higher than he needed to) and unwrapped the gauze from my stomach**.**It gushed fresh, crimson blood all over his hands.

Quinn rushed to grab more gauze, and threw the bundle to Focusover the fire. He caught it skillfully and proceeded to redo the bandaging over my bleeding wound. I gasped and tried my hardest not to arch my back at the intense pain; I felt as if I was on fire.

'God, it's deep,' muttered Focus. 'It almost went the whole way through. You should be in a hospital, but**.**...'

'Too dangerous,' I finished. He shushed me, finishing the bandaging.

'That should hold for a while,' he said briskly. 'Don't move. Just... stay still. Okay? You're lucky you heal fast.' I tried to get comfortable, and he scowled. 'No moving, Shadow!' he scolded.

''Kay,' I grumbled, pouting. He grinned.

'On the bright side, we got more fizz buttons,' he said. 'Finish your hotdog and you can have some.'

'Yes!' I exclaimed, punching the air. Focus looked at me sternly, and I became still once more.

Quinn aided me to finish my remaining hotdog– also known as, she finished it herself. Then she fetched the fizz buttons, but Kovu had to restrain her from eating the rest of the packet on her own. 'No!' he chided playfully.

I grinned toothily and threw a fizz button into my mouth. Despite my life being the biggest pain in the butt since... well, ever**;**I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Especially not the fizz buttons.

* * *

><p>The fire had dimmed, its light flickering across the sleeping faces of Quinn and Kovu.<p>

I sat beside Focus, leaning against one of the smooth trees that bordered the newest clearing where we had settled. Our legs touched lightly, but we didn't say a word.

Time passed. I was lost in the peaceful serenity of the night and the content silence that had grown between us.

My eyes landed on Kovu's sleeping form, and lingered there. 'What are we going to do with him?' I asked, breaking the silence.

'What d'you mean?' questioned Focus quietly.

'Is he staying? Do we trust him?'

'I do,' Focus responded. 'He saved Q _and_our asses in the process. Honestly, he seems completely genuine. He's the sweetest kid. Just spend more time with him, Shadow, andyou'll see.'

'I know,' I whispered, 'but what if he's just waiting to ambush us?'

'He's had heaps of chances. If he was, he probably would've hurt us already. Unless he's a spy.' Focus scratched his chin. 'And besides, they were trying to kill him, too. You didn't see him when we came here. He'd only flown once – counting the escape from the Erasers. He was in complete wonder of it all. You could tell ... he was _free._Absolutely ecstatic about it, too. That can't be faked.' The side of his mouth quirked up. 'I know from experience.'

I nodded, resting my head on Focus's shoulder. 'I suppose you're right.'

He sniggered. 'Aren't I always?' I elbowed him in return, and hid my smile with a yawn.

'Where do we go from here?' I eventually asked him.

'They'd somehow found out we were in the forest by Dale. It's probable that they expected us to leave and fly a long way from there after the attack, so if they're searching, it won't be here for a while. If I'm wrong, then they'll find us soon. We're not far at all from the place where they found us. In the first place.'

'I know all that,' I sighed. 'I just feel as if we're not doing... enough. The School is obviously planning something, while we just sit here chewing fizz buttons. I feel like we need to get out there. We need to do _something_, right?'

'Right,' he said. 'But I think instead of hiding, we should go somewhere big. Somewhere where everybody could see us.'

I immediately began to protest. 'No—'

'Think about it,' he interrupted quickly, turning to face me. 'Of course they'll expect us to hide off somewhere. We're always in caves, forests... the wilderness. But why don't we set out for some place where we're _sure_ to be seen, by everybody? Where we're _sure_to blend in?'

'What do you mean?' I asked faintly, a bit overwhelmed by the idea of a big city. I'd never even set foot in a large American city – we always kept to small towns that nobody knew of and, as Focus had said, the wilderness.

'You know exactly what I mean. Where better to blend in than somewhere where _everybody_dwells? Their eyes would just pass us by. If we change our clothes, our look, and just do whatever... they might not find us. Think about it!'

For a moment, I sat in contemplative silence. And then: 'Where would we go? Oklahoma?'

Focus snorted. 'Nope. How about... New York? Chicago? Las Vegas? Maybe... Miami? LA? Hang around in California?'

I stared at him. 'Are you _insane_?' I hissed, eyes narrowing. My tail began flicking dangerously behind me.

He just stared at me. Half of my mind was begging me to agree with him and go with the plan; all of me knew that his logic was smart. But what if we _were_caught? Yes, the average person wouldn't even give any of us a second glance – but Zero would. The Erasers. The white coats. Did Focus just expect us to hide behind the heads in the bustling crowds?

And then there was the matter of where we would stay and how we would sustain ourselves. We only had a few bucks – it was enough in small places like Dale, but big ones, where prices skyrocketed? Nuh-uh.

I'd never resorted to thievery. In my mind, stealing was one of the lowest of the lows. I knew that if the lives of my family and myself depended on grabbing an apple without paying the price, I'd do it. But I also knew it'd plague me forever.

Generally, I thought of myself as a good person. I hated committing crimes, hated death, didn't like fighting... the only true reason I wanted revenge on the whitecoats at the School was for the murder of my sister, Lizzy.

_Where is she now?_ I wondered. _Is she beside me?_

Next to me, Focus huffed impatiently at my lack of an answer. I just closed my eyes and let my head fall back to rest on the tree trunk. It was his watch anyway.

'What d'ya say?' he asked me, clenching his strong jaw.

'I say I'm going to sleep,' I muttered. 'I'll think about it**.**...'

He didn't reply.

So sleep I did.

But it's what I woke up to that really mattered.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Hey, guys! Guess who's back and better than ever? Yep, that's right. This girl! <strong>_

_**I've got several chapters ready – I just need to send them along to my BETA to be checked, and then we should be good to go. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed this one! Just press that little button below to review. You know the drill.**_

_**- J**_


	6. Harsh

_**Ni hao! Sorry it's taken a while, but it's me, and you should be getting used to my laziness by now. But hey, I'm putting this over homework right now, so you guys are lucky!**_

_**Enjoy.**_

_**CHAPTER FIVE: **__**Harsh**_

My eyes opened to blinding white lights hanging from the ceiling and a cold metal floor. I was curled into a fetal position, surrounded by slim bars with gaps of less than an inch between.

I managed to sit up, and winced at the brightness of the room. The walls and the floor were both a harsh white, creating an atmosphere that pained my eyes.

Hair askew, I looked through the bars of my cage to the others in the room. To my left was an empty cage, with a telltale stain of crimson on the floor**.**To my other side was a whimpering baby, scales across its spine and the backs of its small legs.

As desperately as I tried to find them, I knew for sure that neither Focus, Quintessa or Kovu were in the room with me.

But I knew where I was.

It was all too familiar.

_The School._

How had they found us? How did I not I wake? I bombarded myself with unanswerable questions, and scolded myself for not protecting the members of my small, makeshift family.

The sound of high heels clicking against the floor of the hallway outside came to my ears through the heavily-locked door. Thunderous footsteps accompanied them.

The peeling door, painted cheaply, swung open a few seconds later. I instinctively hissed at the familiar faces that entered: Doctors Mary Wright, Caleb Green and Mark Gotnei, flanked by five beefy Erasers who all appeared the same, in my eyes.

For a while, they just stood there. Nobody said a word. Every single locked-up experiment was silent, and I could see the young reptilian child trembling.

I eventually decided to break the tense quiet. 'You called?' I drawled, twirling a strand of hair lazily around my finger.

Dr. Wright nodded, her face set in a business-like mask. However, instead of saying anything, she just flicked one of her hands to the side.

As soon as they saw the signal, all five Erasers rushed towards my cage. Unable to do anything, I just sat there; biting back snappy retorts that I knew wouldn't do me any good.

One of them picked up my cage, taking special care to jostle it that much more than necessary, and began walking alongside the other Erasers. Ahead of them walked the white coats, not turning back.

A few minutes later, we arrived in another bright, harshly white room, but there were no other experiments housed within. Instead there was a counter against the wall with multiple sharp utensils upon it, a table almost overflowing with scientific tools and a high, narrow strip of metal, held up by thick stilts. An experimentation room.

An Eraser unlocked my cage and roughly hauled me up by the arm. I spat out one of my feathers that had somehow gotten into my mouth and tried to shake him off, but it was useless. He lifted me off my feet (in a way that was the total _opposite_of romantic) and threw me down onto the steel table. I bit my lip to hold back a cry of pain from the impact and allowed them to chain my arms, legs and neck to the table.

'What do you want?' I growled, rage mingled with fear buried deep within me. 'Why'm I here?'

Dr**.** Green**-** a tall man with pale brown hair, greeny-blue eyes and lightly tanned skin**-**walked over to a high cabinet, where he removed a high-tech screen that appeared to be off. At the touch of his fingertip, the screen lit up brightly, washing his face in white and highlighting the sharp angles of his cheekbones.

He pressed a few buttons quickly, making images shoot from the screen and suspend in the air. I tried to decipher their meaning, but I couldn't understand the writing.

A few minutes later, Dr**.**Green turned off the small, hand-held machine and looked up. He didn't say a word, just nodded to the two scientists.

Dr**.**Gotnei slid a sleek black phone from his coat pocket and immediately made a call, tapping his foot as he impatiently waited for a reply.

'Hello?' came the muffled, distorted voice from the other end.

'Bring them in. The experiment is ready. All equipment is here, and the procedure is ready to take place.'

'Are you sure it'll work?' replied the voice. 'The experiment is older, after all, and it's hard to modify memories of people older than eight. You have to start young. And we all know the difficulties the avian-human hybrids present.' I could only pick up the sound from my heightened senses; Dr**.** Wright and Dr**.**Green frowned in confusion at the conversation, seeing as they couldn't hear half.

'I know,' hissed Dr Gotnei, his voice ringing loud and clear, 'but this one has panther genes, too. They're much more lenient than the avian hybrids.'

There were a few hushed words from the person on the end of the line before a prerecorded beeping sounded. The line was dropped.

Dr**.**Gotnei flipped the phone shut and put it back in his pocket. 'They're on their way. We're going through with it.'

'Have you heard anything from the other experiments?' asked Wright.

He shook his head. 'This is the first one scheduled, and most important.'

'The guarding on the other three is still top security, of course,' pressed Wright. Gotnei scowled at her.

'Of course! This one was placed in the maximum security room, while the others were in one with quite high guarding as well that —'

'Security cameras?'

'No, but —'

Dr**.**Wright sent her hand flying towards his cheek; a crack sounded when her slap hit. She didn't have time to yell, however, as a rush of people entered the room: a mixture of frazzled white coats and hot-tempered Erasers.

They stood around for a bit, doing nothing but stare right at me. Eventually, Dr**.**Green spoke, his eyes peering into mine.

'You understand why you are here?'

I clenched my jaw and refused to reply.

He exhaled loudly. 'We drugged the air around the clearing you were in so that you all fell into a deep, senseless sleep. The other three mutants are in a separate room, hopefully still unconscious.**'**

'Let me see them,' I choked, the restraint on my neck so tight that I could hardly breathe. 'Let me see them and you can do whatever you want to me.'

'We already can do whatever we want to you,' said Dr**.**Wright, her blonde hair pulled back tight. 'We don't need the extra advantage of leniency when we have force.'

'What're you going to do with me?' I gasped, struggling well and truly for air.

'We can't answer that,' she said monotonously. She didn't know that I had heard the voice on the phone — I knew they were going to mess with my memories.

Wright looked around the room, meeting the eyes of all the white coats gathered. 'Let's begin.'

No more words were said as every single one of them flew about the room, tending to this and that. I zoned out after a while, but was jerked back to harsh reality when agony hit my body.

I couldn't help it – I screamed. The sound was loud, piercing, but not nearly as painful as the hot, burning liquid that had been injected into my veins.

'Is it working?' screamed a white coat.

'No!' shrieked Wright. I screamed with everything I had as another shot went into the skin of my thigh: the pain increased tenfold.

More cries sounded from the frantic white coats; at first, I dismissed the alarmed sounds as more to do with my experiment, but I was quickly convinced otherwise when I heard a hiss and saw a snake slide onto the table where I lay.

I writhed and flailed, trying to get as far from it as possible. I had always had a fear of snakes, and this? Well, it wasn't exactly helping, what with a snake less than an inch from my quivering, burning body.

It opened its mouth wide, exposing dripping, venomous fangs, and bit down on my wrist – but the fangs never hit my skin. Instead, the snake appeared to be removing my bonds.

'Stop it! Get the snake!' yelled Wright, the only one to have still kept her head through all this. When no one made a move towards the serpent, she picked it up herself and squeezed its long, thin body.

The snake reared up and spun its head to face her, before sinking its fangs straight into the flesh of her arm. She screamed and shrieked, immediately releasing the serpent as crimson blood gushed from her wound. Her skin paled and took on a grayish tinge, and her body began to sway, before she fell onto the white linoleum floor. The white coats shouted in horror.

The snake didn't pay any of them attention, andno one dared to come near it after it had bitten Dr**.**Wright, so it didn't really have anything to fear. It rid of the bonds around my legs and arms, and slithered up close to my face.

Despite knowing that the scaled creature was most likely on my side, I couldn't help trembling as its teeth chewed apart the strap that held down my neck.

I gasped in relief as all my bonds fell away from my body. The searing agony given to me by the two injections was fading, and I was strong – I managed to get to my feet and take a few wobbly steps towards the door, the white scrubs that all experiments had to wear scratching against my otherwise bare skin.

The snake slid ahead of me, and I followed it. The white coats made a wary passage, desperate to throw me back down but fearful of the snake that slithered dangerously close.

As soon as we had exited the experimentation room, the snake quickened its pace. I matched it with a run, but stopped and stared in horrified wonder as the snake transformed into a girl.

She looked about fourteen, with honey-blond hair and guarded gray eyes. Her lips were parted slightly, and I glimpsed two pointed fangs; catching my stare, she closed them back together.

Her skin was pale and her stance was strong, and I could see she wasn't willing to open up anytime soon. Dressed in simple black and lavender, hair tied up in a high, messy ponytail, she stared at me.

'Who are you?' I asked, looking curiously at her. I couldn't help feeling a bit frightened.

'I know where your friends are,' she stated. She didn't answer my question, but the thought of Focus, Quintessa and Kovu waiting for me drowned out all else.

'Where are they?' I demanded.

'Not too far from here. Just keep quiet and follow me.' Her eyes grazed over my scrubs. 'I know where your clothes are, too. You might want to get them first.'

I flushed in embarrassment, looking at my feet. 'Take me there,' I mumbled. 'You're sure that they won't be hurt until we arrive?'

'No,' she said quietly. Her voice was soft, smooth. 'But we have to take a chance. When you get your clothes back, I have a dagger you can take.'

I nodded, but the girl missed the gesture; she had turned and started walking down the deserted corridor, expecting me to follow her. I had no choice but to, really.

After a few seconds, I asked, 'Where are the white coats and the Erasers? Why aren't they following us?'

'They're probably busy setting up traps,' she said calmly. 'A few will be getting treated for the bites, because if they don't, they'll die. I assume by now that they're mainly getting to the security cameras, but I busted them all where it counts. They won't have much luck.'

'What did you mean by ... setting up traps?' I questioned hesitantly.

'So that it'll be harder to escape,' she explained. 'They'll put up a fight. They're just pretending to let us go. The usual routine. Honestly, they need to learn the definition of originality.'

I looked at her curiously. 'You know a lot about them.'

Her stance immediately tensed, sneaking a glance at me from the corners of her grey eyes, full of inner turmoil. Her mouth was shut tight. She looked back ahead and didn't respond, and we continued to walk.

'We're here,' she said quietly, a few minutes later.

She reached up and twisted a doorknob on a small wooden door, painted so flawlessly that it blended in with the stark walls.

'Grab your clothes, get changed, and be quick about it,' she said tonelessly. I did as she said, searching until I found a pile with mine on top. I changed quickly into the dark items, andthen threw Focus's, Quinn's and Kovu's into my arms. I went back to the girl.

'Here,' she said, handing me a long dagger in a sheath. I slid it out and gazed at its sharp, gleaming blade. The hilt was plain and silver, but a sapphire was set into the metal and gave the weapon an air of extravagance.

'Where did you get this?' I breathed.

She ignored me and toyed with something in her belt, before taking the blade and returning it to its hold. I stared after it in dismay. The girl spun on her heel, walking away from me at a brisk pace. I quickly hurried after her.

'Can you hold me up?'

I glanced upwards at her words. We were at a large metal door, a glass window partway up revealing what was inside. There were cages upon cages, but I couldn't identify any of the faces.

I tried the handle. 'It's locked.'

The girl rolled her eyes. 'Can you hold me up?' she repeated. I looked at her in confusion and she smirked at me, before morphing into the same emerald serpent she was before.

A bit reluctant, I grabbed her surprisingly heavy form and held it at the height of the doorknob. There was a keyhole just below it; the girl sunk her teeth in and twisted about a little. Her elongated body writhed gracefully in my hands.

She turned back to her human form in seconds flat, and I removed my arms before she fell on them. She grinned at me. 'Door's open,' she said.

With a sigh, I twisted the handle. The door swung open, and I hurried into the room.

Being as quick as I could, I glanced through all the cages, until —

'Shadow!'

My head jerked to where my name was uttered; a broad grin spread on my face as soon as I saw Quintessa, her cage directly beside Kovu's. They were both beaming.

I hurried towards them, but their cages were locked. 'Uh –' I started, but I remembered fast that I didn't even know the name of the mysterious girl who was helping us.

She looked at me thoughtfully, then sighed. 'The name's Liselle,' she told me. I nodded.

'Well, Liselle, help me out here, will ya?' I hissed, but the words weren't intended to be harsh.

An eyebrow rose on her face, but she did as I asked and busted their locks open. Quinn bounded out of her cage as soon as the door sprung wide, and launched herself onto me in an affectionate hug. With a small laugh, I returned it and smiled down at her.

'Where's Focus?' I asked her gently, as Kovu exited the cage that had been his prison. 'Is he here?'

I heard another, lower laugh from behind me. I spun quickly – and my face broke into a broad grin as soon as my eyes fell on Focus. His expression mirrored my own, until mine turned to one of confusion.

'How did you get out?' I questioned.

Liselle raised her hand. 'Thank me. While you were busy molesting that child —' she smirked — 'I was busting your boyfriend free.'

'He's not my boyfriend,' I snapped.

She grinned. 'If he's not yours, then he's mine for the taking. Eh, _Focus_?' His name was almost a sneer on her lips.

Focus looked at her. 'Wait, what?'

Now we all smirked. 'Focus needs to focus,' I mocked. He scowled and hit my shoulder playfully.

I felt a hand tug mine softly and I looked down to see Kovu. His golden eyes were wary.

'I feel like we need to get out of here,' he whispered. 'Fast.'

Immediately, I acted upon his words. As I spoke, I dished out their clothes and they all swiftly changed (the girls avoided looking at the boys, and vice versa). 'All of you,' I commanded, 'we need to go. Like, now. Liselle, lead the way – I think you know this place much better than any of us.' We never really got a chance to explore the corridors when we were in captivity.

She nodded stiffly in reply and led the way out. After a moment of hesitant silence, our group of four followed her. At their slow pace, Liselle turned and snapped, 'Hurry the hell up!' Focus scowled at her attitude.

'Where did you meet _her_?' he murmured lowly, so only I could hear his voice.

'She saved me from the white coats. They were about to modify my memories. No idea why, though. Anyway, she —'

'They're building up an army. That's why they tried to erase your memories.' Liselle paused, while Focus and I looked at one another, bewildered. She looked back at us, and continued to speak. 'Haven't you heard? If the experiments can't remember any life before they were recruited, then it makes it easier to convince them that they were always part of the army. They become weapons.'

'Why're they doing this?' Quintessa asked in a whisper.

Liselle remained calm. 'Because they're twisted. They want to take over the world completely and get rid of all the "normal" humans, so that our world is a mixture of hybrids. No person would be purebred. No person would be entirely human. They believe that this would heighten the intelligence of our people and would make our world something that people can only dream about at the moment. They don't see or understand that they're destroying the lives of innocent people. Locking them up in cages ten sizes too small for their height. Keeping them in captivity until they've trained enough to go out and capture more innocents, or kill some more rebels. That's just how it goes, the scientists think. This new way of life that they're creating is in some sick way boosting the circle of life and heightening life as we know it.' A scowl twisted her pretty face. 'Idiots.'

The rest of us were silent, comprehending these facts.

Liselle glanced from side to side, her ponytail swishing behind her. She paused for a moment, then headed left, her footsteps beating against the floor in a quick rhythm.

'How do you know your way so well?' asked Kovu, trotting to keep up.

'I like to observe my surroundings,' she replied shortly.

We walked in silence for a while, Liselle the only one who actually knew where she was going. She paid no mind to the cameras tracing our every move, while I looked up at them anxiously.

Focus seemed to have the same thought. 'Should we disable them?' he whispered to me, raking a hand through his unruly hair in unease.

'Ask,' I replied in the same hushed tone. He rolled his eyes and didn't speak again.

Eventually, we stopped in front of two glass doors.

'This is the only safe exit,' Liselle told us. 'Or, somewhat safe. Can you all fight?'

The four of us gave simultaneous nods.

'Then be at the ready.' She moved a hand up to clutch a silver locket, hanging around her neck. She said no more to us before she grasped one of the modern silver handles and tugged.

And then the alarms sounded.

* * *

><p><em><strong>All right, you guys satisfied? And, to all those who hit favourite andor subscribe and don't review, well, why don't you do both? That way everyone's happy!**_

_**Good work to Knight Mistress, Liselle's creator :).**_

_**- J**_


	7. Screams

_**Ni hao. Any HP fans, go check out my drabble series **__**Je Te Vois**__** … it's worth it, promise! Anyway, here's chapter ... six? I really need to start paying attention. But at least I'm updating more often now. 0.o**_

_**CHAPTER 6: **__**Screams**_

My eyes widened and I froze up momentarily, but the shrieks and yells combined with the harsh ringing of the alarms pulled me to action. I took a second to glance at my surroundings before rushing forward.

We were in an open arena. High above, the sky was a deep grey, filled with thick, swirling storm clouds. The ground under our feet was hard dirt, footprints of varying sizes permanently stamped into the earth. A long, four-foot-high brick wall circled the area, behind which sat plastic brown seats - which were completely full of white-clad scientists, enthusiastically watching the show.

Ahead of us were tens, or maybe even hundreds, of Erasers.

Saliva dripped from their bared fangs, and their furred fists were clenched. Their gruesome faces were distorted as they snarled, bodies locked in tense stances. The majority of them were only wearing tattered pants, chests open to the frigid air, but a few wore ripped shirts - the only distinguishable marks between the males and the females, apart from slighter shoulders.

The alarms were still ringing, and shouts were sounding from all around us. Savage battle cries from the bloodthirsty Erasers who ran towards us almost in slow motion – combined with the eager cheers from the white coats, looking to see their experiments in action, to see some blood spilt on their crude fighting ground.

There was the metallic scraping of a dagger being drawn from its sheath beside me, and then they were upon us.

The first thing I felt was hard knuckles slamming into my shoulder. I winced, but quickly retaliated. I spun and rammed my elbow backwards, hearing the satisfying crunch of a broken nose. I then turned back to face the human-wolf hybrid, and swung my knee up between his legs. He collapsed, howling in agony.

Not a second later, two more were upon me - a female and a male. I dealt with the latter in much the same manner, but the female was strong. She kicked my legs out from under me, and then shot her foot into my side. I clenched my teeth, thinking repeatedly,_ Pain is just a message. Pain is just — a — message ...  
><em>  
>I got to my feet, the female Eraser launching herself at me once more. We fought with fists, and I thought for a second I had won, but then her sharp teeth sank deep into my forearm as she punched me in the stomach. I had to bite my tongue hard enough to draw blood to keep from screaming.<p>

All of a sudden, the Eraser drew back with a gasp, her face scrunched in pain. Her despairing eyes met mine, and then she collapsed, a dagger sticking out the back of her neck.

Blood gushed from the wound, the flow increasing when the blade was pulled from the Eraser's flesh. Liselle looked up at me, her eyes hard. She saw my expression and her face somewhat softened.

"Just because what we're doing is _right_ doesn't mean it's _easy,_" she whispered. Then she was gone, and more Erasers were upon me.

Minutes passed into hours, with the five of us fighting until sweat and blood dripped from our brows. As more and more Erasers went down, more and more seemed to appear. We would've flown away long beforehand, but we saw the flash of steel and heard the bang of bullets being shot. Some of the better Erasers had guns.

Focus, Liselle and I had taken it upon ourselves to target all of the gunmen in particular. For a short while, we thought that we were doing well. That if we took out the rest of them, we could have a chance.

But then a young, feminine, bloodcurdling scream echoed through the arena, stopping all noise and movement in its tracks.

Focus acted fasted. He spun on his heel and raced to Quintessa's trembling body, blood flowing from the huge bite in her side. He didn't utter a sound, nor pay heed to the eyes trained upon him. He just took her gently in his arms, spread his darkly-colored wings and launched into the air. Quinn's curly red hair streamlined behind as they sped to the open sky, and drops of blood fell far to the ground.

Everybody seemed to register what was happening, then.

Guns shot at the distancing figures. Erasers fought with a newfound fervor, as did we — now, however, they were more set on capturing us then "playing".

Kovu, realizing that he couldn't take out hordes of unarmed Erasers by himself, launched into the air after them, but a large fist grabbed his tail and pulled. Kovu yelled in pain and struggled to get away, still airborne, but the Eraser's grip was too strong. He pulled Kovu down to the ground and caught his arms, holding him in a standstill. Kovu's eyes were wide in fright and pain.

The guns were still firing, but had no luck. Quintessa and Focus were out of the arena, their forms getting smaller and smaller until Focus was no longer than my thumbnail. In quick succession, Liselle stabbed Eraser after Eraser through the stomach. They dropped their guns and fell to the floor, cursing, howling, and wheezing.

Soon, with my help of fist and foot, Liselle and I had brought down all but two of the armed Erasers, while the rest tried in vain to fend us off, take us prisoner, or render us unconscious. Liselle and her dagger were swift antagonists.

The final gunmen were fast in understanding that there was no point shooting above. They turned their guns on us in one smooth movement. We froze.

My ears twitched at the shrill sound of a whistle somewhere behind me, and then the reflective glass doors swung open once more. Zero strolled out, accompanied by both Watercress and Storm. My mind filled with dread, and my only thought was, _Crap._

Zero smiled sadistically. "Hello," she greeted conversationally, stalking forward. Her eyes flashed. "How are you?" She smirked at the sight of us, covered in blood and gore.

Instead of a reply, I spat at the ground. Zero's yellow eyes hardened.

"Hand me the guns, boys," she commanded the Erasers. They reluctantly obeyed, tossing the two weapons into her waiting hands. It was clear who held the chain of command.

"Shadow," breathed Liselle, barely moving her lips. "When I attack, I need you to launch into the air and fly away."

"No!" I immediately protested, though just as subtle as she. "No. I can't leave Kovu, and you're coming, too."

"I can't!" she hissed back. "I can hold them at bay. You become airborne. I'll free Kovu, and you two can get to safety. Do you understand me?"

"_I'm not_—"

"_Do you understand me_?"

I glared at her for a few seconds, before I directed my angry gaze ahead. I nodded stiffly.

A moment later, Liselle lunged forward, taking less than a second to down both of the formerly armed Erasers before rushing in the opposite direction, towards Kovu. Zero, Cress and Storm leapt into action, Zero rushing at me while the two boys followed Liselle's sprinting figure.

Reluctance and regret filled me as I jumped into the air, spreading my wings of a bluejay and lifting myself higher, higher.

Zero screamed in outrage and pointed her guns up. "Freeze!" she yelled, but when Liselle fought and won against more and more Erasers, her priority changed. She swore and ran to the cause of all the commotion — Liselle.

It only took Liselle three seconds to bust free Kovu. He didn't hesitate, shooting into the air and making his way to me with panicked wing strokes. Together, we flew away from the chaos. All attention was on Liselle - we were a minor distraction. I swallowed my guilt for later as we made our way to the specked forms of our two comrades and left our saviour behind.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Good reading, chickadees. Now go check out my drabble series, my other story <span>A Boy, a Girl and a Sister<span> and review **_**this _story, 'kay? Also, shout-out to MidnightStarlightxoxo for being the most incredible, stunning reviewer ever. If everybody was like that I'd literally worship and pray to the people that read my stories, because Eve (MidnightStarlightxoxo) is fantastic. I love you!_**

**_Lastly, in a couple of days I'm thinking about changing my username. Any suggestions? I might just make it xXjazbazXx, or xXjizjazXx ... I don't know. Anyway, R&R!_**

_**- J**_


	8. Giving up :l

**Hey, guys.**

**Yeah, it's the dreaded AN. I know, I know, I got your hopes up that this would be a chapter – but it's not.**

**I've put a lot of thought into this. I've been mulling it over for ages, trying to think of a different way, but I can't.**

**So, yeah. I'm giving up **_**Focus on the Shadows**_**.**

**In all honesty, I've never been a quitter (unless it comes to boys), but this is different. I've been trying to find the motivation to work on this story, but it never comes. Hell, I don't even know what was gonna happen, plot-wise. I knew what I **_**wanted **_**to happen, with the war and the flock coming together and all that kablooey, but I didn't know how to get there and – well, you know. Let's not go into those gory details.**

**I'm seriously so sorry to my readers, especially to you, ****It's Fnicking Awesomeness****. You've been an amazing beta and I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this! It was sort of a sudden decision, and besides, my email account stuffed up and only just became fixed (the reason I haven't sent your chapter back to you yet. Do you mind resending it? Thanks).**

**BUT! (Yay, there's a 'but'!)**

**I am putting this story up for adoption, so if you want to take it PM me. I'll check out your stuff and if I like your writing ability, I'll hand it to you. However, if I don't have any adoption requests by … say, how about a month from now? The 21****st**** of July? Okay, if I don't have accept a request by then, I'm permanently deleting it.**

**It's fairly sad.**

**But I don't regret it.**

**J**


End file.
